G.O.A.T.

a great beef burger is delicious. There's something about the smoky grill taste, mouth feel and satiation that can't quite be replicated.

But most burgers are uninspiring, and (to me) the meat serves more to pull the dish down than bring it up in those instances. When my university cantina has 'burger day', I exclusively go for the veggie options – such as black bean or falafel burgers – as they invariably taste better. A meat burger (to me) has to be pretty excellent to topple it.

Professional

I would gladly eat a vegan burger over some of the burger restaurants here. Most burger makers in the Philippines use burgers as an excuse to use the poorest quality meat with the worst preparation, including hard bits of cartilage and bone in every bite. Yikes.

Bionic Poster

The Beyond Burger requires 6.1 mj (1457.93 kcal) of energy to produce 290 kcal of product. According to a study by the Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan (commissioned by Beyond Meat), "based on a comparative assessment of the current Beyond Burger production system with the 2017 beef LCA by Thoma et al, the Beyond Burger generates 90% less greenhouse gas emissions, requires 46% less energy, has >99% less impact on water scarcity and 93% less impact on land use than a ¼ pound of U.S. beef." [41]

Professional

I find nothing more satisfying than a nice thick medium rare New York steak, with a thrice baked potato, and a green romaine salad with oil and vinegar.

Now I should add, I want that medium rare steak to bleed, but not moo. If it moo's that is a little too rare.

I have eaten that steak for the last 55 years at least 3 days a week. As for cholesterol, I told I have the cholesterol levels of a nine year old. As for the rest of the week: 2-3 days a week, 2 chicken breast skinless broiled with a baked potato and green salad or veal marsala mixed in one day. Vegetable of choice is asparagus or brussels sprouts.

So to each their own. I won't force you to eat the way I do and expect you to keep your demands out of my business.

Legend

The Beyond Burger requires 6.1 mj (1457.93 kcal) of energy to produce 290 kcal of product. According to a study by the Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan (commissioned by Beyond Meat), "based on a comparative assessment of the current Beyond Burger production system with the 2017 beef LCA by Thoma et al, the Beyond Burger generates 90% less greenhouse gas emissions, requires 46% less energy, has >99% less impact on water scarcity and 93% less impact on land use than a ¼ pound of U.S. beef." [41]

Timothy D. Searchinger is a research scholar at Princeton University and a senior fellow of the World Resources Institute. Follow him on Twitter: @Tsearchinger. Richard Waite is a research associate at the World Resources Institute. Twitter: @waiterich. The opinions expressed in this commentary are their own. View more opinion articles at CNN.

(CNN)Burger King has promised to go national by the end of the year with its Impossible Whopper, a plant-based patty that tastes like the real thing. Other fast-food companies have also started selling Impossible burgers, and other plant-based burgers that really taste like hamburgers and will be on sale in more grocery stores soon. These developments are a whopping big deal, even historic, because of their potential to redress climate change and save forests.

What's the environmental beef with beef? As many people know, the stomachs of cattle produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that cattle emit mostly through burping. The manure cattle leave on grazing land also produces a lot of nitrous oxide, another powerful greenhouse gas. But the biggest challenge is that producing beef requires a lot of land.

On a global basis, it takes between 50 and 100 calories of some kind of feed -- mostly grass -- to produce one calorie of beef. Because it takes land to produce that feed, it ultimately takes far more land to feed people with beef than with almost any other kind of food.

Globally, cattle and other grazing animals use an area roughly twice the area of global cropland, or about four times the size of the continental United States. Roughly 40% of this grazing land was originally forest. As beef consumption expands, more tropical forests and woody savannas are converted to grassland (and a little cropland) to produce it, and the conversion releases vast quantities of carbon dioxide from the carbon otherwise stored in trees and other vegetation.

Beef uses roughly 20 times more land and releases 20 times more greenhouse gases for the same amount of protein as common plant proteins such as beans, according to our published calculations. Compared to dairy, the land use and emissions are roughly five times greater, and compared to chicken and pork, roughly 10 times.

Virtually all strategies for stopping global warming require that the world immediately stop clearing forests to produce more food, and most require reforesting vast areas of land even in the next few decades. To do that, the world needs to feed itself with food produced on the same or less land.

Yet even if agricultural productivity continues to increase as it has in the last 50 years, the expected rise in world population -- and a growing ability to afford meat among people who eat little meat and hardly any beef now -- means farmland will continue to expand and vast areas of forests will be cleared to meet rising food demand.

One way to get more beef without clearing more forests is to produce more meat from the same land. Improved grazing practices and overall livestock production around the world are therefore vitally important, and American or other farmers who produce beef well will remain needed.

Yet even if most of the land that can produce beef well doubles its output per acre, that will probably not be enough. A recent study we co-authored for the World Resources Institute, the World Bank and others explores possible paths to feed the world while sparing forests and solving climate change. Even with such productivity gains by 2050, our study found that big beef-eaters need to curb their consumption. In our main path to success, Americans on average need to cut their overall beef consumption in half, down from the equivalent of three hamburgers per week to 1½.

From an environmental standpoint, that does not mean beef consumption has to end. In fact, beef and dairy cattle eat a variety of feeds, such as brewer's yeasts and citrus pulp, that are wastes from other agriculture production. Cattle can feed on native grazing land that with good management can continue to store carbon and provide significant habitat.

So eliminating beef is neither the goal nor realistically at stake. The point is to hold down its growth. The world has long fully exploited native grazing areas and turned to clearing forests to meet demand. Because the beef market is global, every person who eats less beef makes it possible to save more forests.https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/29/business/burger-king-impossible-rollout/index.html
That is why moderating beef consumption is so important. Those who say reducing beef and other dietary choices don't do much to tackle climate change compared to changing energy sources don't typically consider the greenhouse gas consequences of land use. When land use is factored in, we have calculatedthat what Americans eat generates almost as many emissions as the energy they consume. And beef generates almost half the emissions from the American diet although it provides just 3% of the calories.

In fact, even if global projections turn out to be wrong and the world does reduce its farmland, every acre that isn't needed to produce beef would still mean an additional acre that could return to forest, provide habitat and take carbon out of the air.

Which takes us back to the Impossible Whopper. In just a few years of effort, small companies have made products that we can testify from personal experience should fully fool the taste buds of most Americans. The Impossible Burger should soon be in our grocery stores looking just like hamburger meat. While these products cost a little more today, within a few years, the far fewer resources they require should make them cheaper than beef, which will enable them to spread around the world.

These companies also claim to be making progress on other meat and dairy substitutes. While they may not soon fully replicate the experience we and others enjoy of eating a great steak or pork loin, they don't have to. By replacing much of the meat we eat in minced and processed form, these innovations can still make it possible to restore large parts of the world's forests.

For plant-based burgers, the niche market of people who wish to eat less or no meat has enabled companies to get a strong start. For other needed innovations in food systems, such as more efficient fertilizers, government regulations may be needed. Either way, this announcement from Burger King increases confidence that with the right push, innovators can provide the world with cost-effective ways to tackle climate change and create a sustainable food future.https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/02/opin...ust-save-forests-searchinger-waite/index.html

G.O.A.T.

The Beyond Burger requires 6.1 mj (1457.93 kcal) of energy to produce 290 kcal of product. According to a study by the Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan (commissioned by Beyond Meat), "based on a comparative assessment of the current Beyond Burger production system with the 2017 beef LCA by Thoma et al, the Beyond Burger generates 90% less greenhouse gas emissions, requires 46% less energy, has >99% less impact on water scarcity and 93% less impact on land use than a ¼ pound of U.S. beef." [41]

And they are likely far from optimized. The should be able to improve some of those numbers scaling up.

They're also manufacturing these in high-cost California which is impressive.

I didn't buy BYND yesterday at the IPO - price was nuts. I would rather buy Impossible Foods but I've seen nothing on them going public. There's another company making these and they were in my supermarket a few days ago. All of the Beyond Meat burgers were gone. People are definitely checking them out. If I were in the meat business, I would be worried. These companies will be going after pork and fish next. Can you imagine massive fake pork production in the US and how that could change markets in China? Their biggest problem is disease and you wouldn't have that with the plant-based option.

Legend

UTC has the Impossible Burger at Red Robin. After lunch, you can go skating at the UTC rink, which will be good practice for your upcoming matches at Roland Garros. You don't want to be a "cow on ice" like Maria Sharapova.

Bionic Poster

UTC has the Impossible Burger at Red Robin. After lunch, you can go skating at the UTC rink, which will be good practice for your upcoming matches at Roland Garros. You don't want to be a "cow on ice" like Maria Sharapova.

Legend

I once had pizza at a place in Burbank. It was veg pizza (soy meat) but tasted uncannily like meat. To my surprise it was better than meat.
IIRC, the owner was from Bolivia (country known for soy meat?).
One of the best pizzas I have ever had. Have never found another pizza place like that.

The local Bud plant uses water from underground aquifers. Water goes around and around and around the globe. Hydrogen combines and recombines. What does it matter what the history of molecules and atoms are?

Talk Tennis Guru

The local Bud plant uses water from underground aquifers. Water goes around and around and around the globe. Hydrogen combines and recombines. What does it matter what the history of molecules and atoms are?

Professional

I once had a practice rally with a 20-something young man from the Bay area, who was not only extremely PC indoctrinated, totally lacking a sense
of humor, but also a practicing vegan. About 15 minute into the session he rushed off the court supposedly because of a massive energy loss, saying
he had to eat something.

His friends asked me what I had done to him. I answered, "ask him when you see him next". I would not give credence to their warped mentally. He
came back in about 45 minutes, wanting to rally again. The food did not help him. He still did not have the strength or energy to get to the ball.

This experience has led me to believe everyone should go on the Warren Buffett diet. You know Dairy Queen and McDonald's everyday plus at least
6 sodas. It might not make tennis players better, but it might cause those who don't pay any Federal Income Tax because they earn too little, to make more money and pay the IRS taxes. Thus, they would actually contribute and support the system they abuse. Would that be great? Ya!!! The
40 percent would not have to support the 60 % and the country would have more money to use.

So everybody go on the "Warren Buffett Diet" and begin to look like Sureshs (that is if you do not already look like Sureshs).

Hall of Fame

Lol as a vegetarian, I can say that I can't be vegan. No milk, no curd, no milk based chocolates (!! The tragedy)...no honey, no ice cream, no cheese, no butter.... Where does the protein come from, really? I already know that as a vegetarian I lack some essentials.

Talk Tennis Guru

a great beef burger is delicious. There's something about the smoky grill taste, mouth feel and satiation that can't quite be replicated.

But most burgers are uninspiring, and (to me) the meat serves more to pull the dish down than bring it up in those instances. When my university cantina has 'burger day', I exclusively go for the veggie options – such as black bean or falafel burgers – as they invariably taste better. A meat burger (to me) has to be pretty excellent to topple it.

Honestly I'm no vegan but I somewhat agree. Bland beef burgers are pretty awful. They have to be good. Whereas most of the veggie burgers I've tried (not a random sample as I've mostly only bought ones that seem quite good) are easily better than a bad beef or other meat burger.
I'm excited to try an Impossible burger when I get the chance.

G.O.A.T.

I once had a practice rally with a 20-something young man from the Bay area, who was not only extremely PC indoctrinated, totally lacking a sense
of humor, but also a practicing vegan. About 15 minute into the session he rushed off the court supposedly because of a massive energy loss, saying
he had to eat something.

His friends asked me what I had done to him. I answered, "ask him when you see him next". I would not give credence to their warped mentally. He
came back in about 45 minutes, wanting to rally again. The food did not help him. He still did not have the strength or energy to get to the ball.

This experience has led me to believe everyone should go on the Warren Buffett diet. You know Dairy Queen and McDonald's everyday plus at least
6 sodas. It might not make tennis players better, but it might cause those who don't pay any Federal Income Tax because they earn too little, to make more money and pay the IRS taxes. Thus, they would actually contribute and support the system they abuse. Would that be great? Ya!!! The
40 percent would not have to support the 60 % and the country would have more money to use.

So everybody go on the "Warren Buffett Diet" and begin to look like Sureshs (that is if you do not already look like Sureshs).

G.O.A.T.

Honestly I'm no vegan but I somewhat agree. Bland beef burgers are pretty awful. They have to be good. Whereas most of the veggie burgers I've tried (not a random sample as I've mostly only bought ones that seem quite good) are easily better than a bad beef or other meat burger.
I'm excited to try an Impossible burger when I get the chance.

They are very good at Red Robin. I don't think that I'll see them at Burger King anytime soon given the shortages.

At the moment, there's a pork crisis because of African Swine Flu that made its way to China. Could you imagine replacing Chinese quantities of pork with Impossible Foods or Beyond Meat products? The requirements for plants here would go ballistic.

Talk Tennis Guru

Lost my taste for beef burgers decades ago. (Still luv taco tho). Be tempted to try an Impossible Whopper or similar burger out of curiosity but, if it really taste that much like a beef burger, I'm not expecting to be a convert. Even tho it's technically not a vegan burger (cuz it contains some egg/dairy), my favorite burger of choice since the early 80s:

G.O.A.T.

Lost my taste for beef burgers decades ago. (Still luv taco tho). Be tempted to try an Impossible Whopper or similar burger out of curiosity but, if it really taste that much like a beef burger, I'm not expecting to be a convert. Even tho it's technically not a vegan burger (cuz it contains some egg/dairy), my favorite burger of choice since the early 80s:

Talk Tennis Guru

Not a huge fan of tofu or soy either. Possible dementia connection for males. The phytoestrogens in soy might be a good thing for males and females in small quantities. However, in larger quantities, is competes too much with real estrogen for estrogen-receptor sites. Males have even fewer of these sites than females.

Bionic Poster

Lol as a vegetarian, I can say that I can't be vegan. No milk, no curd, no milk based chocolates (!! The tragedy)...no honey, no ice cream, no cheese, no butter.... Where does the protein come from, really? I already know that as a vegetarian I lack some essentials.

Hall of Fame

Not a huge fan of tofu or soy either. Possible dementia connection for males. The phytoestrogens in soy might be a good thing for males and females in small quantities. However, in larger quantities, is competes too much with real estrogen for estrogen-receptor sites. Males have even fewer of these sites than females.

I use a lotta haldi/turmeric (powder) as well. I buy it in very large quantities from Indian grocery stores... helluva lot cheaper than buying it in small quantities in regular (American) grocery stores here.

Put it into my steel-cut oatmeal this morning -- also added Ceylon cinnamon, lecithin granules, soaked chia seeds, extra oat bran and a bit of black pepper, butter and sugarless (sugar alcohol) syrup. The lecithin and the back pepper is supposed to improve the bioavailability of the turmeric. Cooking turmeric also improves its availability.

I also add haldi powder to my pizzas, taco and other dishes. Sometimes drink OJ or Kombucha or other probiotic drink with turmeric. Use it in teas, especially my anti-inflammatory, antibiotic tea -- hot green tea, Manuka honey with a little bit of lemon juice, black pepper and lecithin.